Revolver Cleaning

[asc5004]

I was cleaning my revolver and afterwards was putting a little bit of lube in each of the six chambers earlier tonight. After doing this I noticed that I had put quite a bit into each chamber by accident. To try and get rid of this, I ran a cloth through each chambers a few times to try and mop most of this up. I looked through each and saw no major saturation and put the 6 .357 rounds back in.

After trying to research how big of a mistake I had made, I saw an article that spoke about oil getting into the cartridge's powder, inhibiting ignition, and causing the round to become stuck in the barrel. I was wondering if this should be a major concern of mine, and if I should dispose of the 6 rounds that were in the gun. They were only in there for a couple minutes and when I pulled them out they did not seem to be excessivley oily. As I said, I feel I mopped out most of the oil when running the cloths through the chambers before loading the revolver back up.

Any other pieces of advice? Should I leave the revolver empty for a while and then load a different set of 6 bullets? Any help would be great!

[Steve_NEPhila]

You might as well just shoot those six rounds at your next range visit, no need to throw them away. On the other hand, I would not bet my life on them... so swap them out.

There is no need to lube much of anything on a modern revolver. It is a great idea to have your revolver taken down, cleaned and inspected and reassembled once a year by a qualified gunsmith. My local shop does it with an ultrasonic bath for 15 bucks.

Oil on ammo is bad, as you already know. You do not need to oil chambers, cylinders, barrels or anything else on your revolver. Clean, wipe and shoot or carry.

[verge]

I wouldn't worry about it unless there was liquid oil on the cartridges for a considerable time, measured in hours not minutes. Just a slight sheen of oil on a .357 cartridge for a few minutes is not likely to seep through the crimp holding a bullet in a magnum cartridge.

That said, if you are really concerned, you could always load 6 new unadulterated cartridges in the revolver if it is your primary self protection arm and put the others back in the case. Shoot them the next time you go to the range, take a wooden dowel with you ... just in case.

[ROBOWOP]

I wouldn't throw them out,shoot them next time,put six new ones in the gun if you're using it for defense.You should really keep your chambers dry,especially shooting hi velocity rounds like .357 mag..When you fire it,the cartridge is supposed to grip the side of the chamber.If it's oily,the recoil shield takes the full recoil of the round.The cartridge could set back and stick,and jam the gun,or at least make it hard to shoot the next round.It won't necessarily happen,but it could..

[L T C]

Oil on or in gun powder and oil on the business side of a primer will cause them to fail.

That being said... You can get a "post lashing" pro and con on lubing your firearm.

I believe in if it's made of metal, unprotected it will rust. If it slides, rubs, turns, touches metal to metal it needs lube. I lube everything and wipe all my stuff down after handling with an oily rag, BUT, I don't put it away or fire my stuff dripping with lube. Everything in moderation.

I oil everything on my revolvers, inside and out. Cylinder bores, barrel, frame, grip. Even the grip. I use Ballistol Lube, and it is good for metal, wood and leather, so the whole gun spectrum is covered.

But after a good cleaning and lubing, I will wipe everything down with a dry paper towel so the gun isn't "wet" with oil. I'll run dry patches through the barrel and cylinder bores so there is only a slight film of oil protecting the metal. There is not enough there to leach into a bullet loaded in the cylinders, or a chambered round in an auto.

If you got the film of oil on your ammo, wipe it off to dry it and it should be fine. As others have said, if it is your self defense stuff, well, to be totally sure it is ok, swap it out with clean stuff, but unless you submerged it in the oil, I don't think it will cause problems.

I find, and this is just me and my stuff with the oily film on my firearms,after a trip to the range, the oil keeps the powder residue "suspended" and not clinging to the weapon. I do not have any problems with my guns' operation, from revolvers, semi autos and rifles. They clean up easily and always look and operate like new.

Thats my 2 pennies worth. Some of the people I shoot with believe the opposite, and keep their guns dry. Bone dry. It hurts me when I hear that bone dry action, but that's what works for them so I can't say anything.

One other point to ponder anytime you're shooting is to be paying attn. especially with a semi auto for a squib or dud round that could possibly be stuck in the barrel, and make sure you don't pull the trigger again 'till the bullet is cleared from the barrel. That is something to keep in mind even if oil on the ammo isn't an issue at hand.

Good luck with your stuff.

[redeye202]

If it spins,oil it.

If it slides,grease it.

Everything else,keep it dry.

[rwb1500]

You might as well just shoot those six rounds at your next range visit, no need to throw them away. On the other hand, I would not bet my life on them... so swap them out.

There is no need to lube much of anything on a modern revolver. It is a great idea to have your revolver taken down, cleaned and inspected and reassembled once a year by a qualified gunsmith. My local shop does it with an ultrasonic bath for 15 bucks.

Oil on ammo is bad, as you already know. You do not need to oil chambers, cylinders, barrels or anything else on your revolver. Clean, wipe and shoot or carry.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This.

There is definitely no need to lube the chambers if a revolver is in good working order. When I'm doing a lot of dry firing (And I mean a lot) I'll just put a single drop of oil on the lower face of the hammer and let it go where it needs to. Aside from that you don't need a lot of lube.

[ROBOWOP]

If it spins,oil it.

If it slides,grease it.

Everything else,keep it dry.

AS I said in my first post,I believe chambers should be dry..Everything else should be lubed,just as Redeye and LTC both say..If any caution needs to be applied,don't use any kind of PENETRATING oil like WD40,Liquid Wrench,ETC,use a lube specifically made for guns.Penetrating oils definately can seep into primers and kill them.Personally,I like the synthetic stuff,and I wipe everything down until it's dry to the touch,but still obviously has oil on it.

[ProShooter]

Run a bore snake through the chambers.

[ROBOWOP]

Run a bore snake through the chambers.

ACtually,I don't remember offhand who makes them,but I use those rigs that look like a rubber automotive softplug with the brass screen on them.Only thing I've ever seen that REALLY gets a chamber and forcing cone clean..